Monday, April 13, 2015

Death Toll From Siberian Fires Rises to 15, Hundreds of Homes Destroyed

Hundreds of people took refuge in temporary shelters on Monday after their homes were damaged by forest fires in southern Siberia that have left more than a dozen people dead, officials said. Fifteen people have so far been killed by fires in the Khakasia republic while hundreds more have have been hospitalized, Interfax cited Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin as saying Monday.

Almost 1,300 houses in 34 villages and towns across republic have sustained varying degrees of damage from the fires, the regional authorities said Monday in an online statement.

Shelters have been opened to help those affected, the administration said in a separate statement, and by Monday morning the shelters were housing 567 people, including 177 children.

The fire was apparently caused by the careless deliberate burning of dry agricultural land, officials said earlier.

While controlled burning of fields is often done by farmers to promote crop growth, abnormally dry weather in the region has contributed to the fires getting out of control.

Five criminal cases have been opened in connection with the fires on the grounds of negligence leading to the deaths of two or more people, Interfax cited Markin as saying.

An overnight report of the forestry service says the area of wildfires in the Trans-Baikal Territory has reached 24,000 hectares, adding that up to 2,000 specialists including paratroopers are combatting 86 fires registered in the region.

"Twenty fires covering an area of 1,300 hectares were localized as of 3 am Moscow time," it said. "A total of 1,597 people, including 210 paratroopers are fighting the blaze, assisted by 327 units of hardware," it added.

According to Chinese emergency rescue services, wildfires have hit Argun, Inner Mongolia Province, destroying at least 85 residential and farm buildings, as well as vehicles and other hardware.

The Xinxua News Agency says the economic damage is put at $3.2 million. No casualties have been reported as of yet. More than 660 firefighters are involved in fight against the blaze.

According to meteorologists, dry and windy weather is favourable for the spread of fires. Temperatures in the region are between 18 and 23 degrees Celsius. No rain is expected shortly, while the southern wind has gusts of up to 20 meters per second, which makes the threat of wildfires spreading further very high, leading specialist at the Chita meteorological service, Lyudmila Peskova, said........http://tass.ru/en/non-political/78909114/4/15

Over 200 residential houses were destroyed inflicting damages on 21,000 people as a result of wildfires in the Trans-Baikal Territory, in Russia’s southeastern Siberia, the region’s governor, Konstantin Ilkovsky, said on Wednesday.

"According to our information, which is still being updated, 203 houses in 18 residential areas were completely destroyed," Ilkovsky said adding that 284 dacha buildings were damaged.

The situation with wildfires is complicated in the Siberian Federal District, particularly in the Republic of Buryatia and the Republic of Khakassia.

Vladimir Svetelsky, the head of the Emergencies Ministry's local rescue center, said on Tuesday that strong winds were fuelling forest fires in Siberia.

Wildfires raging in the Republic of Khakassia have left over 20 people dead and some 4,700 homeless. Local meteorologists have warned of strong winds which could cause more fires in Khakassia.......tass.ru15/4/15

EL KAOS UT

The UN has imposed a 2013 deadline for the submission of scientific claims to the Arctic seabed. It is the precursor to a resource boom which would see Canada, the US, Russia, Norway and Greenland all attempt to exploit the region's resources.